Obama Administration Poised to Increase Funding for Arts Education??

In the special section on museums in today’s New York Times, an
article by Dorothy Spears titled When
The Gallery is a Classroom, opened with the following :

“For years, with school budgets declining
in so many American cities, museums have provided a parallel universe for
learning. Now, with the Obama administration poised to support arts education
with increased financing, museums nationwide are eager to align themselves with
those efforts.”

“Poised to support arts education with increased financing.” Sounds great? Absolutely. Better than great.
That being said, I cannot figure out the basis for the assertion of
increased funding for arts education. Is it the increase to the NEA budget? The
stimulus package? Advanced information? Extrapolated from Obama’s arts platform? Sure, the additional budget amount for the NEA (excluding the $50 million stimulus allocation) will see increased dollars for arts education, but it’s not designated for arts education and in the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to make that much of a dent. Plus, it’s already been approved in the spending bill.

It’s a terrific article, in terms of looking at certain aspects of museum education and outreach. But that first paragraph really jumps out at you and makes you wonder if it’s going to build up false hopes. I would like to be positive about this and hope that there’s something afoot in the administration near term (poised), that hasn’t been indicated yet.

If you’re wondering whether that increase is in the education portion of the stimulus bill, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For my next blog, I am going to do an update on that issue, but as a teaser, I can tell you that for the moment it appears that the arts would have to find a circuitous route into the $100 billion designated for education. Also, there are a couple of other bills to look at, including the GIVE Act, which is headed for passage, focusing on volunteerism and education. More to come on that too.

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Comments

The arts have almost always had to find a backdoor or “devious” way to trap government funding. The only exceptions to that were the 1965 ESEA legislation that included the arts in Titles I, III and IV, the formation of the Arts (and Humanities) Foundations, and a few special sources of bounty running into the late 70s. With Reagan, categorical funding stopped, and except for the model demo arts projects, has never returned. In short, arts education is nodded at in some pieces of legislation but never singled out for specific “subsidy” since the 80’s.
From my reading and research, I see no indication of a change in the status quo.
Alas…
Jane

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-Effective, empowered teachers and school leaders;
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Then let President Obama know! Visit EDVOTERS.ORG and sign the petition today!

Museums are part of our education and outreach and though it has been forgotten long ago, museums still thrive and find ways to survive from the politics of elimination. I do not believe Obama will help and increase funding to museums, I would call that another political spiff but that will be swiftly forgotten to get back to the realities of disastrous budget deficits that this president is building.

…”disastrous budget deficits that this president is building.”? are you serious? this article was written TWO MONTHS into the Obama administration, and the comment, later that same year. It’s like blaming the doctor for cutting into a patient who needs to have a limb removed…

Richard Kessler

Dewey21C

is a blog dedicated to the belief that the arts are part of our genetic code. The belief that the arts are in the DNA of every person, and that our job as teachers, parents, mentors, advocates, and administrators is to provide quality, sustained arts … [Read More...]

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For those who have followed Dewey21C, hopefully you’ve noticed that I have been silent since the end of July. A month off from work followed that last post, and as we’re blowing through September, I have started a new chapter in my career as Dean of the Mannes College The New School for Music.

It’s not all that often that one gets a month off. It was a month that I viewed as time to leave behind the past seven years at The Center for Arts Education, while clearing my mind for the very new challenge of leading a music conservatory that is part of a fairly unorthodox university (The New School). It didn’t hurt that one of the founders of The New School, and father of its initial educational design was none other than John Dewey.

There is so much that I want to share about these early days in my tenure. I thought it would be a good call to start with something that had that sort of cold water in the face feel as soon as arrived at The New School.

In K-12, the pathway to college is and has been for many years the brass ring. Ten years ago it was simply getting students to college. For arts educators, we were being asked what we were doing to increase the high school graduation rates, with the presumption that graduates would move along to college at increasing rates, in addition to simply ensuring a higher high school graduation rate and all that it implies. Slowly it became about college and career readiness, which is the key frame for the Common Core Standards. What should a student know and be able to do in college and career. One way or the other, K-12 policy has been about getting more and more students to college, even if remediation rates are alarmingly high.

At the very same time, higher education is under fire. In almost every respect higher education is being challenged, whether it’s on the basis of cost, design, relevancy, etc.

Some say it’s better to attend DIY college. Others question the value of the degree altogether. It’s too expensive. It’s too abstract. The model is busted. There is no accountability. There is no data. It is hand cuffed by tenure and unions. Freshman enrollment is down. Students are taking longer to graduate.

Naturally, the above includes just a few issues in common with K-12.

You have to admit, at the very least, how fascinating it is to witness a sort of accountability movement in higher education, one which at time calls to question fundamental value, while at the very same time, most of K-12 policy continues to triangulate on moving students to college.

For me, at my new position, there is one particular question from K-12 that I find to be the perfect lens to peer through: what should a graduate know and be able to do. It is through that particular frame that I believe assessment and improvement is possible at my new job.